TOREROS FACING ‘A VERY DAUNTING STRETCH’

When the West Coast Conference men’s basketball schedule was released last summer, USD coach Bill Grier quickly scanned the Toreros’ assignments, paused at a midseason stretch and probably reached for the Tylenol.

Beginning today, the Toreros play four games in eight days. Three of those games are against the WCC’s giants, Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s. One blessing: all three games are at home.

Then there’s this: the Toreros are mired in a three-game losing streak.

“Obviously,” said Grier, whose team is 11-11 and 4-3, “it’s a very daunting stretch for us.

“I can’t sit here, fret about it and complain about it. That’s not going to help. My concern through this stretch is confidence. I don’t think anybody would look at this stretch as a confidence builder, unless you can win some of ’em.”

Jeff Tourial is the WCC’s assistant commissioner for communications and new media. He helped oversee the conference schedule.

Asked whether USD’s four-game, eight-day stretch is fair, Tourial said, “I would say they wouldn’t view it as ideal, but yes, I think it’s fair. I’m not trying to belittle the fact it’s a very difficult stretch. It certainly is.”

Tourial said the process for creating the WCC schedule unfolded as follows:

A) Discussions were held with the WCC’s TV partner, ESPN, to see which games appealed to the cable network.

B) Bortz Media and Sports Group Inc. in the Denver area created a computer-generated program. The company also creates the NBA schedule.

C) The WCC reviews the schedule, looking for glitches.

Before BYU joined the WCC last season, the conference featured eight teams and schools were paired as travel partners based on geographic proximity.

Nine teams created scheduling challenges.

For instance, USD played an 8 p.m. game at Saint Mary’s on Jan. 24, flew home the next morning, practiced for an hour on Friday, then played a 1 p.m. Saturday home game vs. Santa Clara. Santa Clara, meanwhile, had not played for a week and arrived in San Diego before the Toreros.

Tourial said one of the WCC’s goals is to generate as much TV exposure as possible. The Santa Clara-USD game, he said, was broadcast into 20 million homes on the WCC’s various outlets.

“Is the schedule perfect?” asked Tourial. “Absolutely not. Is the schedule fair? I would say yes. It’s not only imperfect for San Diego.”

Take Gonzaga. The Zags close the regular season with a 9 p.m. Mountain Time Zone Thursday game at BYU, then a Saturday home day game vs. Portland. The Pilots, meanwhile, will not have played for a week.

The scheduling problems should ease next year when University of Pacific joins the WCC to create a 10-team conference.

“Thank goodness,” said Tourial.

USD’s scheduling challenges extend beyond the four games in eight days, including Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s.

“I know you’ve got to play them some time, but to have them all stacked together bing, bing, bing?” said Grier.

After Saint Mary’s next Saturday, the Toreros play three straight on the road. Plus, USD plays seven games vs. teams who were off when the Toreros played their previous game. Translation: the opponent is more rested. No other WCC team plays more than three such games.

USD leading scorer Johnny Dee welcomes the test.

“I’m excited about it to be honest with you,” he said. “Coach Grier says take it one game at a time. One game’s not going to kill you. One game’s not going to make you. It’s one game at a time and right now we’re focused on Gonzaga.”